[catears]

This summer I read "On Writing Well" by William Zissner which was an eye opener for me. I'm far from an expert in writing clear texts, but I am definitely noticing more text which are just... big balls of blurb that don't actually say anything. All because of that book.

It sounds dumb, but this year it clicked for me how big of a difference a poorly written text compares to a well written text.

Hope your training pays off, itsmemattchung!

[luuuzeta]

Zinsser's "On Writing Well" is one of my favorite books, I like how clear and concise its prose is.

I got Joseph M. William's "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace" recommended [1] so you might be interested in it. I read the introduction (I'm planning to read it this year) and with the few examples the author presents it sells the idea that prose doesn't need to be utterly complex to communicate ideas and concepts succinctly and clearly.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33601492

[grantc]

This is the first book I recommend to anyone who wants to improve their writing. With Minto's Pyramid Principle as a follow-on.

My top 3: 1/ Edit ruthlessly. Every single word is reduced to its simplest form and pulls its weight--it has a damn good reason for being there. 2/ Aspire to write at a third-grade reading level. Readers prefer simple writing even when reading deeply technical content. 3/ Start your most important conclusions up front, not at the end. You're not writing The Sixth Sense. Do your reader a favor and tell them the big reveal first. You can then follow through and persuade the reader why your conclusions are right.

[urthor]

Bottom Line Up Front and "Anything worth reading is 10% of the first draft," are the two hardest procedural skills in writing.

It's just so much experience to avoid those mistakes.